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Mary Barrows
Mary Barrows is the main antagonist of Clock Tower: The First Fear. She plans the demise of four girls, unleashing her son, Bobby Barrows as her main form of murder. She is referred to as "Miss Mary" by Jennifer Simpson, Anne, Laura Harrington and Lotte. While she seems to simply be the children's teacher, bringing them to their new home, it is soon revealed that the horrors of that night in September were all orchestrated by her, in an attempt to slaughter the innocent girls. Mary was killed during the clock tower mansion incident. Personality Mary is a very warped, vengeful and cruel woman, obsessed with the dark arts and seeing no ill with murdering innocent people to get what she wants. Considering the occult imagery throughout the mansion, as well as a ceremony room with a giant pentagram on the floor, it could be theorized that Mary is a Satanist or a member of Theodore Barrows cult. She displays a level of cunning and manipulation, as she is able to hide her crimes and the existence of her two monstrous children from the rest of the world, and successfully feigns kindness towards Jennifer, Anne, Laura and Lotte, gaining their trust only to break it later when the murders occur. Despite her ruthlessness and lack of empathy for her victims, Mary does appear to love her two sons and is very protective of them, becoming hysterical and vowing vengeance upon Jennifer for killing Dan and murdering Dr. Walter Simpson for threatening her children. Given her behavior in the game's climax, her willingness to harm others with no remorse and reports of her behaving "erratically" while employed at the orphanage, that she is a very mentally unstable individual and a possible psychopath. Her cool demeanor is a facade. Appearance Mary's appearance, depending on the media and artwork, is somewhat inconsistent. However, she always appears as a blonde to brunette woman in a blouse, skirt and high heels. In-game, her blouse is grey-white and her skirt is black. In the manga adaptation and some art, Mary appears to wear earrings, red lipstick and red nail polish. Biography As a descendant of the Barrows family, Mary was interested in black magic and occultism since her childhood. After the birth of a brother, Mary and her brother wanted to sacrifice people. At some point in time, she married Simon Barrows. Mary gave birth to a pair of twins, Bobby and Dan, with the help of Dr. Walter Simpson in November 1986. However, they were not normal twins, as they devoured Dr. Simpson's right hand. Dr. Simpson immediately discovered that the children were demons, and they should have died. In result, Mary had Dr. Simpson sealed in a secret room that was intended for her, where he died three days later of suffocation. Sometime before the first game began, Mary locked Simon in the shed within the courtyard of the mansion. Originally, Mary intended to kill Simon, but kept him trapped for years to make him suffer more. According to the guidebook, Clock Tower Official Strategy Guide: Guide for Victory, five years prior to the events of The First Fear, around 1990, Mary started working for the Granite Orphanage as a teacher, at which time she became known for her erratic and hysterical behavior; it's also implied that she didn't use her real name when working at the Orphanage, which explains Jennifer's shock when she finds out that Mary is in fact the Devil Twins' mother. ''Clock Tower: The First Fear'' Using her position as teacher in the orphanage as a means to act as a go-between for her husband, Mary adopted four orphan girls, Jennifer, Anne, Laura, and Lotte from the Granite Orphanage to live with her and Simon at their mansion in Norway. Before they arrived, it is heavily implied Mary locks all the doors, windows (leading to the outside, the inner courtyard windows wouldn't matter) and possible exits of the mansion to prevent the girls from escaping. When they arrived, she had them wait in the main foyer while she left to get "Mr. Barrows" (presumably Simon), however, this is probably simply an excuse for her departure. It is then assumed she was scheming, along with Bobby, the demises of the four girls in order to feed their bodies to Dan. If any of the girls escaped, then Mary could easily pin the blame on Scissorman and she could still appear innocent. If any of the remaining girls survived the initial Scissorman murders directly, then she could finish them directly with her knife or a shotgun. Mary also prepared poisoned sleeping drinks for the girls to make her murders easier. She can later be encountered: * In the lounge, Mary will comfort Jennifer by giving her a wine glass, which poisons her, and then Mary will lock her in the shed along with Simon, where she (if Jennifer does not has the Green Key) later kills Lotte with a shotgun and attempts to kill Jennifer in the same manner. Jennifer will then have to pick up a plank of wood next to the door in order to knock Mary unconscious once she enters the shed in order to escape; otherwise, Mary will shoot and kill Jennifer, who would either be standing still or hiding inside a nearby box, thus resulting in a Dead End. *If Jennifer finds out about her father's demise first, Mary will simply attempt to kill Jennifer in the lounge with a knife. However, if the player exits said room and re-enters it, Mary will have strangely vanished without a trace (either due to developer oversight or a secret passage), with the glass (containing the Silver Key) she was supposed to give to Jennifer on the table. Fate Mary met her demise at the top of the clock tower. Depending on the path selected, she can either: *Fall off a ledge while being attacked by crows (Endings S''' and '''A) *Be thrown into the circuit board by Jennifer and shocked to death (Ending B''') *Fall off the ladder of the clock tower in attempt to kill Jennifer (Ending '''C) In some of the endings, Mary either kills Jennifer herself, and/or lives. Although Mary doesn't appear in Ending G, she is indirectly alluded to when it reveals that Jennifer, upon returning to the orphanage, was found dead in her room three days later. Hifumi Kono, the game's director, confirmed that Mary was indeed directly involved in her death during that time, although the exact cause was unknown.http://w11.zetaboards.com/dontcryjennifer/topic/195429/5/ In the Japanese novelization of Clock Tower, though, Mary met her demise from being pecked and flung off by the crows. Canonically, Mary died in the incident, as reports say that Jennifer was the only survivor.Clock Tower 2 Adventure Novels (Helen) Creator's comment According to Hifumi Kono, the game's director, Mary was interested in black magic and occultism since her childhood. After the birth of a brother, Mary and her brother wanted to sacrifice people. Her husband, Simon Barrows, wanted to stop her and tried to kill her, but he failed and Mary held Simon in a cell. Originally, Mary intended to kill Simon, but kept him trapped for years to make him suffer more. In the same interview, he appointed similarities between Mary and Kay Satterwhite, Edward's legal guardian in Clock Tower. Trivia *In Japanese, Mary is called "Mary-sensei" (メアリー先生), which literally means "Teacher Mary". *If the player discovers Walter Simpson's corpse, then encounters Mary in the lounge, she will attack Jennifer with a knife. If Jennifer turns off the lights, Mary flashes between a normal woman to a sprite in bright colors. The lights will turn back on automatically and Mary will turn back to normal. This is an error that only appears in the SNES version.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7gtqsCQOeg *Mary wears perfume which Jennifer uses to sneak past a guard dog familiar with Mary's scent. *Mary could be seen as an antithesis or inversion of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. **A possibility is that Mary was impregnated by Satan himself or some other malevolent entity. *It is possible that the character was partially inspired by Betsy Palmer's portrayal of Pamela Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th. References Gallery Mary.png|Artwork. Mary Barrows.png|Mary in the manga The First Fear. Mary the first fear.png|Mary in the manga The First Fear. 07.jpg|Mary in the manga The First Fear. Mary clue book.png|Mary's clue book artwork. Ct5.png|Mary with Jennifer in the opening scene. Pity.png|Mary threatening Jennifer outside the shed. MaryShootsJennifer.gif|Mary kills Jennifer with a shotgun. Pwn.gif|Jennifer attacks Mary with a plank in the shed. MaryCloak.png|Mary, in a black cloak, walks past her guard dog in the cave under the mansion. KillYou.gif|Mary strangles Jennifer. MaryElectrocuted.gif|Mary is electrocuted to death in Ending B. MaryC.gif|Mary struggling with Jennifer in Ending C. MaryD.gif|Mary killing Jennifer in Ending D. Mary Barrows - Ending D.png|Mary killing Jennifer in Ending D. Barrows, Mary Barrows, Mary Category:Stalkers Category:Clock Tower: The First Fear Stalkers Barrows, Mary Barrows, Mary Category:Deceased Category:Barrows Family